knight_toolworks
09-21-2009, 01:33 PM
I do so many one offs and so many different materials that sometimes vac hold down is a hassle or not practical. sheet goods for the most part I use vac on but when I haw to cut a single board it is just not practical or cutting odd shaped scrap and such.
so I use a fair amount of 18 gage brads from a airgun. they are fast and easy and if you hit one it does not usually matter if you don't do it often. one thing I have found is the longer they are the more they hold. not because they go in deeper but I think it is the glue. the more glue the more they stick.
but I can hold down something in second with brads. slap it on the table figure where I can nail it and tack it down.
when I am cutting cheap plywood for a upholstered furniture guy I cut the ply in two passes. the first pass then pause nail the parts in two places and the final cut.
I bought a 15 gage gun for these order I needed to assemble and I am glad I did. I had to cut 1.125" cheap plywood and even though it was close to flat it was just too much for the vac to suck down. I guess if I stood on the sheet it would suck down but I just nailed the 4 corners then as the cuts were started I added 4 more on each end to hold the strips. I found the 18 gage would not hl the ply in place with the speeds I was cutting so the 15 was great.
one advantage to the larger nails is they pull out of the table with less effort. they also tend not to break when removing them from material.
now I only use screws on plastic or other materials I can't drive a screw through, the nails are faster and cause less damage then screws do.
I had a bench back to carve the other day. and it was like how do I hold it down? it had slats and I could put blocks beaten them. then I got the bright idea I laid some scrap 3/4" ply across the slats and then nailed between them slats with the 15 gage and it was rock solid
I had some thin wood to edge glue and I needed to clamp the flakes flat so I would get a good joint. I find it is a hassle to try to run two bars top and bottom and clamp each end. I just used some of the scrap 1.125 plywood and nailed each end and that clamped them flat very well land was very fast.
so I use a fair amount of 18 gage brads from a airgun. they are fast and easy and if you hit one it does not usually matter if you don't do it often. one thing I have found is the longer they are the more they hold. not because they go in deeper but I think it is the glue. the more glue the more they stick.
but I can hold down something in second with brads. slap it on the table figure where I can nail it and tack it down.
when I am cutting cheap plywood for a upholstered furniture guy I cut the ply in two passes. the first pass then pause nail the parts in two places and the final cut.
I bought a 15 gage gun for these order I needed to assemble and I am glad I did. I had to cut 1.125" cheap plywood and even though it was close to flat it was just too much for the vac to suck down. I guess if I stood on the sheet it would suck down but I just nailed the 4 corners then as the cuts were started I added 4 more on each end to hold the strips. I found the 18 gage would not hl the ply in place with the speeds I was cutting so the 15 was great.
one advantage to the larger nails is they pull out of the table with less effort. they also tend not to break when removing them from material.
now I only use screws on plastic or other materials I can't drive a screw through, the nails are faster and cause less damage then screws do.
I had a bench back to carve the other day. and it was like how do I hold it down? it had slats and I could put blocks beaten them. then I got the bright idea I laid some scrap 3/4" ply across the slats and then nailed between them slats with the 15 gage and it was rock solid
I had some thin wood to edge glue and I needed to clamp the flakes flat so I would get a good joint. I find it is a hassle to try to run two bars top and bottom and clamp each end. I just used some of the scrap 1.125 plywood and nailed each end and that clamped them flat very well land was very fast.